Door-handling machinf



J. E. HUBBELL.

DOOR HANDLING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED Immo, I92o.`

'Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

J. E. HUBBELL.

DOOR HANDLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Amzo. 1920.

Patented oen 26, 1920.

4 kSHEETS-SHEET 2.

1. E. HUBBELL.

DOOR HANDLING MACHINE. APPLICATIN FILED APR. 20| 1920.

Patented 0@t.26,192o.

4 SHEETS-SHEET A3.

N' Juve/who@ 6MM e We( l www?,

- 1. E. HUBBELL.

DOOR HANDLING MACHINE.

APPLIC-ATIDN FILED APR. 20| 1920.

Patented 0G13. 26, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. HUBBELL, F NEW YORK, N. ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD T0 LOUIS "WILPUTTE AND TWO-THIRDS TO .ALICE A. WILPUTTE, BOTH OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK.

noon-HANDLING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oet. 26, 1920.

Application led April 20, 1920. Serial No. 375,279.

To all whom it may concern `Be it known that I, JOHN, E. 'HUBnLLf citizen of the United States and resident of is a specification.

product coke oven.

The general object of my present invention is to provide an improved door handlng mechanism especially devised for moving plug doors into and out of the ends of the horizontal coking chambers of a by- These doors are quite heavy, ordinarily weighing several tons each, and to remove such a door from its closed position it is necessary to lift the door slightly to take the weight of the door off the door sill, or bottom wall of'the oven chamber, and then to move the door horizontally out oi' the coke chamber, after 'which it is usually necessary to move the door transversely of the length of the oven chamber to get it out of line with the' latter. Heretofore, it has been thought necessary to maintain a door of this 'type in parallelism with itself as it is being inserted in and removed from the end of the oven chamber; Iy have discovered, however, that such a door may be readily opened by an initial rotation of the door about a horizontal axis adjacent and parallel to the bottom edge of the door., This rotative movement of the door carries the upper end of the door part way out of the o'ven chamber and lifts the bottom edge ofthe door oii the door sill, after which the door may be bodily retracted while still in its inclined position. In putting the door back in place, reverse movements areemployed.

The specific object of my'invention is to provide simple and effective mechanism for opening and closing the door by the movements just described.

The various yfeatures of novelty which characterize my invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification; For a better understanding of the invention, however, and the advantages possessed by it, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which I have illustrated preferred embodiments of my invention.

Ot' the drawings;

Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved door handling mechanism and shows in section a portion of the coke oven structure with which it is associated; i

Fig. 2 is a plan viewof a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevation taken similarly to Fig. 1 but on a largerscale, showing a portion only of the apparatus of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view ci" a portion of the l apparatus shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a partial section on the line l 5 5 0f Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an elevation of a modified form of mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a partial section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 8; I

` Fig. 8'is an elevation taken at right angles to Fig. 6 with parts broken away and in' section; and

Fig. 9 is a view taken similarly to Fig. 8 showing parts in different positions.

In Figs. 1-5 of the drawings, I have illustrated the use of my improvement in an installation in which the door handling mechanism for the pusher side of a horizontal by-produ'ct coke oven plant is mounted on the pusher machine carriage R. The latter also supports the coke ejecting ram T, the charge leveling bar U, and the mechanisms for giving the ram Tand the bai` U their movements, and for giving the carriage R its movement transverse to the oven chambers along the pusher track rails S. The

a baror beam A, mounted as shown on guide rolls A10 for movement toward and Y away from' the oven chambers in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axes of the latter. This longitudinal movement of the bar A is brought about through mechanism which as shown comprises a motor mounted on the carriage R, and operatively connected to the bar A by speed reducing gearing including a spur gearing W in mesh with a toothed rack secured to or formed on the bar A. The coke oven structureshown, comprises horizontal coking chambers P" with flued heating walls at each side of the chamber, and a door O for the pusherV end of each chamber which comprises a metallic rim or framework and a refractory body portion O. In the closed positionof the door shown in Fig. 1, the refractory 1nner body portion O of the door projects into the corresponding oven chamber P', preferably to the outer edgesl of the first vertical lues P2 in the heating walls. The side flanges of the door then abut against the sides of the doorway. In the particular construction shown in Fig. 4 the sides of the doorway proper comprise metallic flash plates Q which cover the ends of the heat? ing walls and are held in place by the usual vertical buckstays Q. At the top ofthe doorway the flash plates Q are shown as connected by a metal lintel Q2. The door is normally secured in its closed position by means of a horizontal locking bar O* which is vertically movable in the guideways O5 carried by the door. The ends of and adjacent the lower edge of the'door.

Associated with this lever are means for securing the door to the lever,`and for turn ing the lever about the axis of its hinge connection to the bar A to thereby tilt the door from the normal closed position shown in Fig. l into the inclined position shown in Fig. 2, or vice versa. Thel lever E may be directly hinged to'the sliding element A,

but for safety and convenience 1n operation, I prefer to interpose a yielding or cushion connection between the lever E and the element A. Such a safety connection protects the apparatus in particular, from v injury in case of an undue advance move-y ment of the beam A. This safety connection, in the form shown, comprises an element B which straddles the 'beam A and is connected to the latter by links C and CA. A cushion spring D, interposed between thc elements A and I3 normally holds the latter in the advanced position shown in the drawing in which the yoke portion of the element B rests upon the top of the beam A. The legs of element B support at their lower ends a shaft B by which the lever E is hinged to the element B. Advantageously vthe link C is made about twice as long as the link CA and the two links areso arranged that 4when the bar A is moved too close to the door and the cushion spring D yields to permit a backward movement of the member B relative to the member A, this relative movement will not create an appreciable change in the level of pintle B.

The upper end of the lever E is bifurcated to receive a door engaging hook lever G which is pivotall connected t0 the lever E by a shaft E2. he lever E is turned rela` tively to the member B on the axis of the pintle B by an electric motor F4r on the member B, and a crank shaft F operated by the motor and carrying crank lpins -F which are connected by links E to the ends of the shaft E2. The shaft of the motor F4 is connected to the crank shaft F. by speed reducing gearing, including' spur gears F2 inclosed in a casing F5 (not shown in Fig. 3), and speed reducing gearing inclosed in a housing F3. Y

The door engaging leverG is provided at its inner endwith a door engaging hook adapted to take under a bracket or hook plate O2 secured to the metallic frame of the door, preferably at a level appreciably above the center of gravity of the door.

The outer end of the hook `lever G is con- `journaled in a bracket K `and the latter, in

turn, is hinge cannected to ear portions E3 of the lever E by co-axial pins or shafts K which are parallel to the shafts E2 and B.

Secured to the lower end of the shaft I is a bevel gear I which meshes with a bevel gear J2, secured to a 'shaft J. The latter is journaled in the yoke K and provided at its ends with hand-wheels J. A suitable thrust bearing I2, which may advantageously be 'a ball bearing, is interposed between the upper end of the gear I and the tubu lar portion of the yoke K in which the lower end ofthe shaft I is journaled. H2 and H3 represent tubular guards secured to the nut H and inclosing the threaded upper end of the shaft I. By rotating the handwheel J,the nut H is raised and lowered and the hook end of the lever G thus moved out of and into operative engagement with the hook plate O2. Advantageously, I associate with the .lever` G means for automatically moving the door locking bar O4 into and out of operative relation with the lugs Q3 as the lever G is moved out of and into operative relation with the hook plate. The means for this purpose comprises a rock shaft L journaled in the lever E and having an arm connected by a link L to the lever G and having other arms L2 for engaging and lifting the "bar O4.

To avoid undesirable relative movement of the door O and lever E when the door is supported by the lever E through the hook G and to assist in properly closing the door, I provide' the lever E with a door engaging part adjacent the lower end of the lever, and advantageously, though not necessarily,

made of a yielding character. As shown this part is in the form of a plunger. mounted in a casing i secured to the lever E adjacent its lower end. The outer end of track rails S to bring the bar A in front of the door to be opened. The bar A which has been previously retracted with respect to the carriage R to provide the necessary clearance between the door handling mechanism and buckstays Q as the carriage is being moved along the rails S, is then advanced into -the door engaging position shown in the drawin s. This brings the hook end of the` lever r under the hook plate 02 and the arms L2 under the locking bar 04. The adjustment of the element A with reference to the carriage R need only secure approximate registration between the engaging surfaces of the lever G and hook of the oven bench P3.

plate O2 since accurate-registration. may be quickly and easily secured by a slight operation of the motor F and a corresponding angular adjustment of the lever E. To prevent an undue inward movement of the lever G, the latter is referably formed with a curved shoulder (E2 which abuts against the outer face of the hook plate O2. After the lever E is thus brought into the proper relative position with respect to the door, the ,p shaft J is rotated to bring the locking lever into snug engagement with the underside of the locking plate O2. The motor F4" is then operated to swing the lever E from the position occupied by it in'Fi'g. into position'occupied by it in Fig. 2. This turns the door from the position shown by .it in. full lines in Fig. 1, and in dotted lines in Fig. 3, into the full line position of Fig. 3. The

effect of this tilting of the door is to lift the bottom of the door off the door sill, and to transfer the weight of the door from the door Isill to the lever E and the mechanism for supporting the latter. After the door is turned into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, it may be fully withdrawn from the oven chamber by the retractionof the beam A, and in practice provision may well be made for retracting the beam A far enough to carry the door to the outer edge Then in normal opto bring the ram T and the leveling bar U successively into alinement with the oven chamber.

To put the door back into place, after the carriage R isA returned to the position in.

which the beam A is in line with the oven chamber, the beam A is, advanced until the lower end of the door snugly engages the doorway, and the beam A should be advanced for this purpose far enough to put the spring,M2, and spring D, if both are employed, under some tension. After this is done, the motor vF4 is operated to swing the lever A toward the oven and'thereby force the upper end of the door into the closed position After the door is thus brought up against the doorway, the shaft J is rotated to lower the hook lever G and the arms L2, thus disconnecting the lever G from the door, and permitting the locking bar Ot to lock the door in place.

The apparatus disclosed, in addition to possessing obvious advantages of simplicity in construction and operation, possesses a special advantage in that the warping of parts resulting from the unequal expansion of different portions of the oven structure and tending to set the different doors when in their closed positions out of plumb in varying degrees, do not interfere with the operation of the apparatus since such variations may be compensated for by a corresponding change in the angular adjustment of the lever E about the axis of its hinged connection B to the member A. When, as will be the ordinary practice, the axis of the shaft B is slightly above the bott-om edge of the door, the turning movement of the door. from the dotted line to the full line position of Fig. 3 would tend to throw the lower end of the door inward a slight distance if the door engaging part M were then rigidly connected-to the beam A, but the yielding connection actually employed makes this tendency of no importance. To prevent any possibility of the bar A being retracted while the hook lever G engages the door and before ployed for making the operation of one part dependent on the position of another part.

It will be understood that the mechanism .for turning the hook lever G about its fulcrum need not. and in practice should not. be of a character to permit the door to be lifted off the door sill in this manner. All

that isy required of this mechanism is to f bring the hook` lever G snugly against the plate 02 and to lift the locking' bar O4. If

,the door were lifted by the adjustment of the hook lever G any appreciable distance,

door frame when the lever E was subsequently turnedv to tilt the door.

the door might not clearthe top Q2 of the mechanism comprises a lever member EA,

corresponding in function and generally in its door engaging parts to the lever E of the mechanism first described. It is not convenient to mount on the coke guide carriage lV, a supporting beam for the lever EA like the-beam A first described. In the construction shown in Figs. 6-9, the part carrying y the lever EA and moving its fulcrum axis or pivot A21 toward and away from the oven structure is a link or swinging frame AA pivotally connected to the top of the carriage W by means of a shaft A20. Preferably the latter is located at a level Well above the top of the oven doors OA. The link AA, in the form shown, consists of two similar spaced apart members connected to gether by the shafts A20 and A21, and between which the Jlever EA is located. In removing a door, the lever EA is first oscillated to turn the door Afrom the full to the dotted line positions of Fig. 9, thus trans-` ferring the weight of the door to the link AA, and the latter is then swung away from' the oven into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 8. -To provide the necessary clearance between the bottom of the door and the bottom frame work of the carriage `W0 without undue cutting away of the latter, the turning movement of the lever EA about its pivot A21 may be initially greater than is required to lift the door off the floor of the oven, and may be continued after the link AA starts to swing away from the oven structure. The lever EA and link AA may be given their respective movements in various ways, but I consider the means shown for producingthese movements especially desirable on account of its simplicity and effectiveness. This means comprises a crank shaft FA, having crank arms F10 connected by links F11 to the link AA, and crank arms F12 connected by links F13 to the shaft E2 of the lever EA. The crank shaft FA is oscillated by a motor F15 having its shaft connected to the crank shaft by speed reducing gearing including the gear segment F14 1 mounted on the shaft FA. The crank arms tionary or practically so. Preferably, also, the arrangement is such that the lever EA will move back relative to the lever AA, into or near a vertical position as it reaches its position farthest away from the Oven.

The lever EA carries a door engaging hook lever G operated and operating in the same manner as the lever G of the construcn tion first described, except that in the construction of Figs. 64) the hand wheel J A for rotating the screw I is directly secured to the lower end of the latter. The lever EA carries a spring cushioned door engaging part MA which may well be identical with the part M described above when intended to engage the same kind of doors. As shown, however, the art MA carries a door engaging member 10 which is adapted to engage the flash plates QA, at the opposite sides of the oven chamber, when the lever EAis in its door engaging and disengaging position. To accommodate irregularities in the flash plate setting, resulting from unequal oven expansion or other cause, the member M10 is preferably connected to the part MA by a vertical pivot M11. The use of the pivoted flash plate engaging member M10 is made desirable by the form of the door OA, shown in Fig. 7, which has no side flanges engaging the flash plates and thus limiting the movement of the door into the oven. The members MA and M10 can be used in the mechanism of Figs. l-5 with equal advantage where that mechanism is employed to operate doors of the kind shown in'Fig. 7. The gear segment F1A1 may be rigidly secured to the shaft FA, but in the construction shown, the segment is journaled on the shaft FA to provide a yielding connection between the motor F15 and the swinging frame AA analogous to that formed between the beam A and member B l by the spring D in the construction first described.- The door closing connection between the gear segment F14 and the shaft FA is formed by a spring Z coiled about the shaft FA and having a central bight portion Z engaging one edge of the segment F14, and end portions Z2 which engage a bar Y the ends of which are secured to the two lever arms F12. The bar Y passes through a slotF17 in the gear segment F14 and the tension of the spring Z normally holds the bar against'the end of the slot F17 which moves away from the bar Y when excessive movement of the segment F11 in the door closing direction causes the spring Z to yield. In th'e door opening movement the engagement of the bar Y with said slot end wall forms a ositive connection between the segment 14 and the shaft FA. Certain novel features of the construction shown in Fi s. 1

to 5 hereof and not specifically cla1med herein are disclosed and specifically claimed Vin my lprior application Serial No. 259185 filed October 22,-,.1918.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes, I have illustrated and described the best forms of my invention now known to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the form of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the "claims a pended hereto, and that certain features oip my invention may be used to advantage without the corresponding use of other features.

Having now described my invention, what .l claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. rl`he combination with a structure having a chamber and a vertical door for the chamber at one side of the structure, of

a door handling -mechanism comprising a member movable toward and away from said side of the structure and door engaging means mounted on said member and movable relative to the latter to tilt a door engaged by said means about a horizontal axis parallel to said side of the structure and adjacent the bottom edge of said door and thereby move the upper end of the door horizontally out of or into the doorway and transfer the weight of the door from the structure to the door engaging means or from the latter to the structure accordingly ashthe Idoor is tilted in onedirection or the ot er.

2. The combination ewith a structure having chambers and vertical doors for the move the upper end of the door horizontally the 0ther.f

out ofl or 4into the doorway and transfer' the weight of the door from the structure to the door engaging means or from the latter to the structure accordingly as the lever is tiltedv about said axis in one direction or 3. A door handling machine comprising in combination a vertically disposed lever,

` is/movable tov move said axis horizontally 'a member to which said lever is pivotally connected adjacent its lower end to turn about a'horizontal axis, a carriage supporting said member and on which the latter in a direction transverse to its length, and means {for connecting-a door to.said lever to turn with the latter about said axis. 4

4. A door handling machine comprising about a horizontal axis, a carriage supporting said member and on which the latter is movable to move said axis horizontally in a direction transverse to its length, and vertically adjustable means for connecting a door to said lever to turn with the latter abou said axis.

5. A door handling machine comprising in combination a .vertically disposed lever, a memberto which saidlever is pivotally connected adjacent its lower end to turn about a horizontal axis, a carriage supporting said member and on which the latter is movable to move said axis horizontally in a direction transverse to its length, a door engaginghook lever pivoted to the first mentioned lever land means mounted on the latter for 'adjusting the hook lever.

a horizontal axis, a carriage supporting said member and on which the latter is movable to move said axis horizontally in a direction transverse to its length, a door engaging hook lever pivoted to the rst mentioned lever and a hand operated adjusting connection including a nut and screw between the levers.

7. A door handling machine comprising in combination a vertically disposed lever, a member to which said lever is pivotally connected adjacent its lower end to turn about a horizontal axis, a carriage supporting said v member and on which the latter is movable to move said'axis horizontally in a direction transverse to its length, upper door engag-l ing means and a lower yielding door engaging abutment carried by said. lever.

8. A door handling machine comprising in combination a vertically disposed lever, a member to which said lever is pivotally connect'edadjacent its lower end to turn about a horizontal axis, a carriage supporting said member and on which the latter is movable to move said axis horizontally in a direction transverse to its length, and means for connecting a door to said lever to turn with the latter about said axis, and mechanism including a crank connected to said lever, a

second crank connected to said member, and,

a common actuator for the two cranks for adjusting said member and turning said .lever by amounts the relative magnitudes of which vary with the positions of said-cranks.

9. The combination with a structure having vertical doorways and plug doors for said doorways at one side of the structure, of a door operating mechanism comprising a member, a lever pivotally connected to said member to turn with respect thereto about a horizontal axis parallel to said side of the structure and adjacent the bottom level of said doorways, said member being adjustable to move the pivotal connection between the member and lever horizontally toward and away from side of the structure, and door engaging means vcarried -by said lever and including an abutment adapted to engage the structure at the opposite side of a doorway to limit the movement of a door thereinto.

10. The combination with a structure having vertical doorways and plug doors for said doorways at one side of the structure,

of' a door operating mechanism comprisingv a member, a lever pivotally connected to said member to turn with respect thereto about a horizontal axis parallel to said side of the structure and adjacent the bottom level of said doorways, saidjmember being adjustable to move the pivotal connection between the member and lever horizontally toward and away from said side of the structure, and door engaging means carried by said lever, and including an abutment pivoted to the lever to turn about a vertical axis and adapted to engage the structure at the opposite side of a doorway to limit the movement of a door thereinto.

11. A door machine comprising in combination a movable carriage, a link member pivotally connected to said carriage at an upper level to turn about an axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, a lever pivotally connected to said member at a lower level to turn with respect to the latter about an axis parallel to the irst mentioned axis, and a door engaging means carried by said lever.

12. A door machine comprising in combination a movable carriage, a link member pivotally connected to said carriage at an upper level to turn about an axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, a lever pivotally connected at a lower level to said member to turn with respect to the latter about an axis parallel to the lirst mentioned axis, door engaging means carried by said lever, and mechanism for oscillating said member and lever comprising cranks oscillating about a common axis and angularly displaced from one another, a link connection between one of said cranks and said member, and a link connection between the other of said cranks4 and said lever.

13. A door machine comprising in combination a movable carriage a link member' pivotally connected to said carriage at an upper level to turn about an axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, a lever pivotally connected at a lower level to said member to turn with respect to the latter about an axis parallel to the rst mentioned axis, door engaging means carried by said lever, and mechanism for oscillating said member and lever comprising a rock shaft, angularly displaced crank arms secured to said shaft and connected one to said member and one to said lever, a motor, and gearing including a yielding element between said motor and rock shaft.

14. The combination with a structure having a vertical doorway at one side and a plug door normally entering and closing said doorway, of door handling mechanism Jfor engaging said door and moving it into and out of said doorway including a part projecting beyond the sides of the door and adapted to engage the side of the structure and thereby limit the door closing movement of said mechanism.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 19th day of April, A. D. 1920.

JOHN E. HUBBELL. 

